Boise, Idaho – Managing hydrologic conditions in the Flathead basin can present complex challenges, depending on the available snowpack each water year. To aid in understanding the way the Flathead basin system is operated, Energy Keepers Inc., Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and NOAA Weather Service plan to host a virtual informational meeting on March 14, 2024, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. MST.
Representatives will provide overviews of Hungry Horse and Seli’š Ksanka Qlispe’dams, basin conditions and reservoir operations for water years 2022 and 2023, and the current water supply outlook and snowpack conditions. The meeting is intended to be informational with no opportunity for questions and answers.
Those interested in participating in the virtual meeting may call in via the following Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
For those unable to attend the meeting, a recording will be placed on Reclamation’s website at Columbia-Pacific Northwest Region | Bureau of Reclamation (usbr.gov).
The Se̓liš Ksanka Qĺispe̓ Project, stands 208 feet high and is a concrete, gravity-arch dam. It is located five miles from Polson, Montana. The three-unit hydro plant has the capacity to generate 208 MW of electricity. Its reservoir, known as Flathead Lake, has a total capacity of just over 18,780,000 acre-feet. On average, it produces 1.1 million MWh annually.
Hungry Horse Dam is 564 feet high and has a variable-thickness concrete arch structure with a crest length of 2,115 ft. The four-unit hydro plant has the capacity to generate 428 MW of electricity. The reservoir has a total capacity of 3,468,000 acre-feet. On average, it produces 913,197,196 kWh annually. The average U.S. household consumes about 10,500 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
Both dams are part of a complex system of inter-related dams and reservoirs in the Columbia River Basin that balance the priorities of the region, one of which is flood risk management.